Hell Followed with Us

Starred review from May 2, 2022
Billions are killed when the Angels, a majority-white ecofascist cult, “cleanse” the earth with a deadly virus in White’s gripping near-future dystopian debut. After creating the Flood, a fatal infection responsible for humankind’s decimation, the Angels force 16-year-old white trans boy Benjamin Woodside to become the perfected virus’s host, turning him into a living bioweapon. Having escaped the Angels’ experimentation and emotional abuse, which includes frequently misgendering him, Benji is rescued by white, autistic sharpshooter Nick and his ragtag band of queer rebels, who call Pennsylvania’s Acheson LGBTQ+ Center home. Together, Benji and the revolutionaries fight for survival amid crumbling infrastructure, even as Benji struggles to contain the virus as it mutates his body from the inside out. While told primarily from Benji’s perspective, brief chapters from supporting characters, including Nick, provide intriguing insight. Using evocative and visceral language, compact storytelling, and inventive worldbuilding, White delivers a transformative depiction of apocalypse through a queer lens. This debut is a moving and timely tale of queer perseverance, offering hope for those fighting for the right to exist without apology. Supporting characters are racially diverse and variously queer. Ages 14–up. Agent: Zabé Ellor, Jennifer De ChiaraLiterary.

December 9, 2022

Gr 10 Up-A queer teen brings the full weight of trauma and rage to bear upon the fundamentalist cult that abused him in this gruesome, emotional debut. After The Angels, an ecoterrorist group, released "The Flood" upon humanity in a bid to cleanse the Earth of nonbelievers, the world was left ravaged and overrun by the slavering remains of the population now hideously warped by viral load. Benji, a white, transgender teen, was raised within the group but is now on the run after they subjected him to emotional and physical abuse and infected him with a strain of The Flood designed to slowly and painfully transform his body into that of a Seraph-a grotesque approximation of an angel meant to finish the cleansing. When his father is murdered, Benji finds safety and acceptance with the remaining members of the Acheson LGBTQ+ Center (ALC), including Nick, a white, neurodiverse teen who helps him to process and harness his fury against the cult and its leaders. Vivid descriptions of viscera and gory suffering appear on nearly every page, creating an intense reading experience that is sure to appeal to movie and body horror fans. However, readers may struggle to follow when intense descriptions of rotting organs, black vomit, and disintegrating skin are immediately followed by romance, which often feels discordant. While the members of the fundamentalist group are white, the ALC teens represent a large variety of gender identities, sexualities, races, and religions. VERDICT This authentic story of consuming fury and the power of found family to heal is an excellent choice for fans of Neal Shusterman's "Arc of a Scythe" series or Rick Yancey's The Monstrumologist.-Catherine Cote

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Starred review from April 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* This astounding and exhilarating debut follows 16-year-old trans boy Benji as he attempts to leave the life he knows and forge his own path, far from the apocalypse-obsessed cult in which he grew up. But the cult members, who calls themselves Angels and incited the apocalypse, won't let him go that easily; they're hell-bent on bringing him back into their radical fold and recovering the bioweapon they forced him to host. White's world building is eerie, haunting, and unforgettable in this terrifying end-of-days survival story that also holds tender coming-of-age moments as Benji finds allies in the local LGBTQ+ Center's members--and even a love interest with whom he can share secrets. And Benji's biggest secret is a doozy: unless he can stop the process, the bioweapon from the Angels will transform him into a monster meant to exterminate all humankind. This fast-paced adventure is chaotic in the best way, featuring diverse and relatable characters whom readers will fall in love with, despite their flaws, and a heartrending love story that reminds us that humanity seeks comfort even in the most painful of times. But just as Benji finds a new family in the queer community that has taken him in, he must figure out if they can be trusted any more than the cult that exploited him for their own beliefs.

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Starred review from April 1, 2022
In the aftermath of a plague, a furious transgender boy seeks to end the movement that plans to wield him for their genocide in the name of salvation. On Judgment Day, the Angels, a cult of White, Evangelical Christian eco-fascists, released the Flood upon the world--a plague to purge the unfaithful--but their work remains unfinished until they unleash their final weapon. Benji, a White trans boy, couldn't escape the Angels before they injected him with Seraph, a plague mutation engineered to transform him into an abomination in control of the Flood and all its monstrous creations. However, when he's ambushed by nonbelievers who present him with an opportunity, Benji joins forces with their resistance, determined to fight the Angels with whatever time he has left. This cinematically gory apocalyptic horror not only delivers high stakes, fast-paced action, and fraught romantic drama, it engages critically with the intertwining impacts of colonialism, capitalism, and White supremacy. The resistance truthfully depicts diversity within queerness while also holding White queer people accountable for gatekeeping and upholding White supremacy. The narrative focuses primarily on Benji's point of view but shifts strategically with shorter sections showing the perspectives of his two romantic interests, including Nick, a White, cisgender autistic boy who plays a significant role in the resistance. A restorative, hopeful resolution brings the story to a satisfying close without turning Benji into a savior. A gloriously ferocious and scorching blaze. (Dystopian/horror. 15-18)

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